Harriet Tubman Research Paper

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Slaves who ran away were dangerous to the establishment of the slave system. War equipped the opportunity for mass escapes. Numerous slaves became free during the War of 1812 and the War of Independence. Slaves had no or little intelligence of geography. They believed seeking the North Star led to freedom. Harriet Tubman escaped slavery and drove hundreds of enslaved people to freedom utilizing the Underground Railroad. Harriet Tubman was born Araminta “Minty” Ross in late February or early March of 1822. She was born on the plantation of Anthony Thompson in the district of Dorchester County, Maryland. Tubman indicated in later years that she was born in Cambridge (Humez 12). She was the fifth of nine children born to Ben Ross and Harriet…show more content…
“Working as a field hand, Minty was nearly killed by a blow to the head from an iron weight thrown by an angry overseer at another fleeing slave” (Larson XVI). Tubman endured seizures, headaches, and narcoleptic episodes for the rest of her life (XVI). When Tubman was in the middle of her daily activities she would fall into a quick deep sleep. She experienced whippings that left scars on her neck and back when her work did not please those who had hired her (Humez 14). Tubman revealed that one of her mistresses would whip her almost every day. She got used to putting on “‘all the thick…show more content…
It’ was not uncommon for a family to include both enslaved and free people, as did Tubman’s direct family (Biography). In 1844, Tubman married a local free black man named John Tubman. She was married at the age of nineteen. John Tubman was born close to northern Dorchester County. Whether he was born in freedom is unfamiliar (Clinton 24). She dropped her childhood name, Minty, in favor of Harriet, perhaps in praise of her mother (Larson XVI). It is not known if they had any children, but they would have been considered enslaved, since the mother’s status dictated that of any offspring

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